In the prior art, fresh ears of corn have been typically processed by harvesting the corn in the field with standard prior art corn strippers and then transporting it to central canneries where the fresh corn kernels are cut from the cob and the kernels and juice are frozen or canned. The desired portion of the fresh corn, the kernels, comprise approximately 25% to 30% by weight of the total fresh corn harvested in the field. The shucks and cobs, approximately 70% by weight, are waste. Conventional canneries may be many miles from the field in which the corn is grown. Therefore, approximately 70% of the hauling charges incurred in hauling the unprocessed raw corn to the cannery are attributable to cobs and shucks that will ultimately be waste. Moreover, additional hauling charges will be incurred for transporting the waste away from the cannery.
Additionally, there are numerous canneries located in agricultural areas that are capable of freezing and/or canning fresh produce; however, there are substantially fewer canneries that contain equipment that is capable of husking and cutting the kernel corn from the cob. Transportation expense and spoilage time restrict the potential growing area for fresh green corn to geographic areas in general proximity to canneries with husking and cutting capability.
In order to reduce the transportation expense, a prior art mobile processor with husking and cutting was developed by Byron. The Byron equipment is attached to the stripper and cuts the kernel corn off the cob in the field as the ears of corn are stripped from the stalk. The machine is very expensive and has no chilling capabilities. The removed kernels and juice are transferred from the Byron processor to open-top stainless steel trailers (also expensive) at ambient temperatures. Depending on ambient temperatures the corn kernels must reach a cannery for further processing within 4 to 5 hours or the corn will spoil.